


away from all of reality

by madryn



Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artist Clarke, Clarke Griffin & Raven Reyes are Best Friends, F/M, Florist Bellamy, Fluff, Minor Octavia Blake/Lincoln, Sassy Raven Reyes, Shy Bellamy, Tattoo Artist Clarke, Tattoo Artist Raven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 15:45:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11316537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madryn/pseuds/madryn
Summary: A Modern AU:In which Bellamy never leaves his flower shop and Clarke only ever buys a single flower.





	away from all of reality

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I whipped up in like two hours, so it's definitely going to a) have mistakes and b) be terrible.  
> Title from Ruth B's 'Lost Boy'.

Bellamy could not decide if he was feeling more turned on or if he was feeling more frightened at the moment.

His flower shop, Aurora's Bouquets, was not in the best part of town, that was true, but it was not in a necessarily bad part either. Not to mention the fact that Bellamy, the world's softest history nerd, could hardly hold his own in a fight. One would think the opposite, though, with his well defined muscles and sharp abs. But that was all Bellamy had going for him: good genetics and a healthy diet. Octavia had attempted to teach him, but ultimately gave up due to his lack of coordination and soft nature.

Oh well. He could always use one of his many books - _like the Iliad_ \- to defend himself, in a worst case scenario.

So, frankly speaking, Bellamy was a little cautious [read: worried, he was a worrier] when two women strode into his dainty little shop right before closing, the only light coming from the few beams in his store. Ordinarily, two women would not have been a problem. Bellamy is not some kind of sexist, misogynistic monster, but these women looked kind of, well, _sketchy_.

The woman on the left was taller than her partner, big brown eyes and long brown hair in a messy ponytail. Her red halter tanktop showcased her sleeve tattoos, a mix and mash of bright colors and dark shadings; mostly black outlines and bright, well-detailed animals seemed to take up the majority of the space on her arms. She had a lip ring, too, and had her fists jammed into the pockets of her black cargo pants, combat boots scuffing the ground as she walked.

She was a beautiful woman, all in all.

In Bellamy's eyes, though, she paled in comparison to the woman she walked in with.

Slighty shorter, but making up for the fact with her sheer presence, was a woman with long, wavy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She, unlike her friend, was wearing a blue and black quilted leather jacket over her tank top, so Bellamy could not tell whether or not she had an extensive array of tattoos as well. He did see, however, the diamond stud in her nose as the light bounced off of it.

So, yes. Definitely turned on.

And it was not like Bellamy was afraid of people who had piercings and tattoos, of course. He was not an _asshole_.

But, he could tell both women were definitely packing.

Packing as in, like, carrying guns.

To be fair, the guns were holstered and the holsters were hiddin inside the waistband of their cargo pants, but Octavia had taught him the signs of how to know when someone was packing - in case I'm not there to safe you, big brother - for safety precautions.

So, yeah. He was cautious.

(But, definitely turned on. He could not help it, okay? They were both totally his type. [read: out of his league])

Bellamy was interrupted from his musings, however, by the blonde giving him a stilted wave as she neared the cash register, where Bellamy had been sitting.

"Do you have any azaleas, by chance?" Her voice was sweet and melodic and he found himself nodding before he even recognized the question. Thankfully, he did in fact carry azaleas in his store, but not many, which is told her.

"Uhm, yes! I only have like five stems, though. Someone came through yesterday and bought me out of most of my stock." Bellamy stuttered briefly, quickly moving towards the front of his store, where a small bushel of the aforementioned flower sat prettily on display. "How many did you, uh, need?"

The brown haired woman scoffed and, while rolling her eyes, loudly told her blonde companion that she was going to wait outside. She whispered something, quietly, into said companions ear as she strode past, causing her to swat at the brown haired woman's arm in mock anger.

Blonde beauty quickly turned her attention back to Bellamy, however, and gave him a pretty smile, "I only need one, please!"

(For the record, her smile did NOT dazzle Bellamy, nor did it make his knees weak. Seriously.)

[read: Bellamy thought she had the most beautiful smile that he had ever seen. Ever.]

"Okay, yeah. Do you want it wrapped or?" Bellamy questioned, holding up one of the azaleas - the best azalea - to allow her a view of said flower. He never had anyone come in and purchase only a single flower, so he was at sort of a loss. He made his feet move back to his station behind the creaky, old cash register at the very back of the store.

"No, it's fine. I'll just take it how it is." The woman nodded in assent and Bellamy took that as his cue to lay the flower gently on top of the counter. She looked at him, waiting, and he belatedly realized that he had not told her how much the flower had cost.

"Oh, uh, that'll be $2.99, please."

The woman pulled a clip of money out of her back pocket and threw a $20 onto the counter beside the Azalea. She flashed him a golden smile, all teeth and genuine feeling, before picking up her flower.

"Keep the change, Bellamy." His name rolled off of his tongue in such a way that he had to stifle a smile of his own, instead opting to nod at her. "See you around!"

And, with that, she was out the door and disappearing with her beautiful friend into the darkness beyond his store.

Bellamy let out a breath that he had not realized he was holding, letting out a quiet but meaningful _holy shit!_ as he conjured up a mental picture of the woman who had just been in his store. She was definitely out of league. Good thing that he'd never see her again, though. Arkadia was a large town, so Bellamy did not have much hope of another meeting.

\-----

Turns out, Bellamy was wrong.

Like, completely wrong.

After the first encounter, the women - whom he now knew as Raven (brunette) and Clarke (pretty blonde) - had turned into regulars at his little store. Well, most of the time Clarke showed up alone, but maybe once a week she would drag Raven along with her to "enjoy the ambiance of Aurora's".

He did not know much about Clarke, except for the fact that she and Raven were roommates and coworkers and friends, and that she came in sporadically to only purchase a single flower. It bothered him, if he was honest. Bellamy never knew when Clarke would show up nor would he know what flower she was going to purchase. His hours - 10A.M. until 9P.M. - were all fair game to her. He was especially bothered by the fact that she only ever purchased one flower at a time and she never told him for what she used them. Then again, he never actually asked Clarke, but he definitely alluded to it in lesser words.

Bellamy was shy, okay? He could not just _ask_ her what she did with the flowers she bought. It was rude.

\----

The heat of the day was sweltering.

Bellamy had forgone his shirt as he labored in the back of his store, where he grew most of his flowers. The summer heat had him sweating in a matter of minutes and there had been no sign of any customers since he opened three hours ago, so he deemed it safe to spend some time taking care of his sweeties [read: his flowers].

He was just lowering a new bush that he had purchased into the soil when someone coughed behind him. Bellamy let out a loud _Fuck!_ and dropped the small plant, whipping around to see who had interrupted him in the 'Employees Only' section of his store. He was breathing heavily in surprise, only to see a familiar blonde quickly dissolve into rambunctious laughter.

"Clarke! You scared me!" Bellamy accused, quickly turning back around to place the bush correctly into the hole in the soil, before brushing said soil back into proper place. The job was an easy, fast one and he was turning and standing to see Clarke in time to see her hearty, full-body laughter dwindle down to light chuckles. "Didn't you see the 'Employees Only' sign?"

Clarke rolled her eyes in response, her eyes still twinkling and a bright smile stretching her lips and showcasing her pearly white teeth. "I definitely saw the sign, I just ignored it. And I'm quite glad I did! Never thought you'd look so good shirtless, Bell."

Bellamy's cheeks quickly heated up in a blush and he scrambled for the old, worn out Ark U t-shirt he had shrugged off earlier in response to the heat. As he pulled the shirt over his head, stomach muscles pulling taut, Clarke let out a wolf whistle.

"Yeah, well, what were you looking for today, Clarke?" Bellamy questioned, willing his blush to go away as he looked anywhere except the woman leaning on the doorway in front of him, her covered arms crossed across her chest; an action that pushed her breasts up and- Bellamy coughed.

"Oh, you know," Clarke grinned, mirth in her eyes. "Just looking for a good ole basic red rose, is all."

Bellamy nodded, legs moving toward and passed Clarke, heading towards the grand display of roses that took up a good portion of Bellamy's left wall. Roses were Octavia's favorite - something Bellamy had tried to discourage, but failed - and a bestseller, so he took pride in growing and displaying only the best. They could be clearly seen from the entrance of the store, but Clarke had taken to relying on Bellamy to pick out his favorite of the batch for her. A simple action that always caused Bellamy to feel rather prideful - she trusted his judgement.

So, he took his time - maybe three minutes, max - to judge each of the red roses individually until he found the perfect one for Clarke.

"This one's on me," Bellamy told Clarke as he passed the single rose from his fingertips to hers, slight drops of water rolling down each of their fingers as he did so. The smile she gave him was wide and unadulterated. He found his own lips pulling into a soft smile out of their own accord.

Clarke reached out her pointer finger to boop Bellamy's chin dimple, causing him to sputter and his glasses to slip at the action. His hand automatically came up to push them back into their rightful place on the bridge of his nose, causing Clarke to chuckle.

"You know, even surrounded by all of these flowers, you're still the prettiest thing in this room, Bellamy."

With that said, she flounced out of his shop, rose twirling between her thumb and her forefinger.

Bellamy was left to stare at her retreating figure, too shocked to feel the blush rearing across his face and down his neck.

\----

"Bell has a crush and he's never _even_ told me?" Octavia exclaimed from where she laid, stretched out across the counter in Aurora's. She had her arms bent under her head for cushion and one leg propped up on the knee of her other. "Honestly, I feel like I don't even know you anymore, big brother."

"Shut up, O." Bellamy rolled his eyes from where he was rearranging his pre-made bouquets. Each bouquet was arranged in a colored vase that complimented the arrangement with either a gold or a silver length of ribbon tied around the vase in a pretty, picture-perfect bow. "I hardly know her, I don't have a _crush_ on her."

"Is that her?" Octavia exclaimed from her spot.

" _What!_ "

Octavia nearly fell off of her perch with laughter as Bellamy fell over trying to stand up from where he was crouched to be eye-level with the bouquets. His glasses slipped off of his nose and thunked to the ground as Octavia howled in the background.

"Not funny, Octavia." He huffed, trying to clean his glasses on his - already dirty - white v-neck.

"Definitely funny, Bellamy." Octavia mocked, grinning at her older brother from across the store. "When are you going to ask her out? I heard nerds are 'in' right now."

"First of all, I am not a nerd!" Bellamy started, crossing his arms as he made eye contact with his sister and glared. "Second, I can't just 'ask her out'!"

"You totally can, Bell. What's the worst that could happen? She says no?" She rolled her eyes.

"I lose a paying customer!" Bellamy exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air as he walked to the other side of his store to check on his tulips.

"Oh, please, Bellamy. As if she actually pays for them. I know for a fact that after she bought the first five you've given every other one to her - quote on quote - on the house."

"Okay, first off, how do you even _know_ that?" Bellamy wondered, truly exasperated by his younger sister's antics.

"I may have an inside source." Octavia edged out, looking thoroughly bored as she stared at her manicured nails when Bellamy whipped around to glare at her. He put the bushel of tulips that had been in his hand back into their water, before stalking his way over to O.

"How." He stated, suspicious.

Octavia looked at her older brother and let out of a huff. She used her elbows to push herself into a sitting position, legs swinging out and against the side of the counter. Giving Bellamy a pitying look, Octavia conceded.

"Lincoln and Clarke _Griffin_ are like, best friends. I don't know how though." She put an emphasis on the 'Griffin' before plowing on. "She definitely talks about you, though. Just saying!"

With that Octavia jumped off the counter and wandered towards the back of the store, where the growing plants were kept, "I believe in you, big brother!"

\----

Bellamy had a plan.

Or, well, he did have a plan.

It kind of fell through.

Not his fault, though!

The plan was to be super hot and funny and flirty the next time Clarke came into his store and then, hopefully, win her over with his extensive knowledge of ancient history and mythology puns. Honestly, foolproof. Or, so he thought. One problem: his plan relied on Clarke actually coming to his store. Which, she had not done for a week. Even _Raven_ had shown up twice in that period of time.

Raven, while beautiful, was a force to be reckoned with even without said beauty, as Bellamy has found out.

Each time Raven had come into the store alone, she had grabbed a single stem of whatever flower she had deemed necessary - usually without even giving a proper glance to which of the bundle she was picking, ugh - and walking up to Bellamy's counter. No matter which flower she picked up, she threw a ten dollar bill onto the counter and raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow daring him to argue. Then, seeing his submissiom, would strut back out of the store like she owned the place without accepting any change.

[read: Bellamy was not complaining, he totally needed the money]

But, with each passing day, Bellamy's confidence exponentially dwindled back down to nothing. Like, what if she has boyfriend? What if she saw him shirtless and wanted someone better looking? What if she - gasp - _hates history_?

So, basically, Bellamy was back to square one.

————

After a day of anxiously waiting for Clarke to randomly make an appearance at Aurora's, Bellamy was thoroughly bummed out. It was actually a really good day for the store, though. He had blown through his 'Pride bouquets' (he felt especially happy whenever a bouquet with the pansexual colors was purchased, because, duh, _pride_ ) and also a bunch of people just wanted to buy flowers, he guesses.

But, nevertheless, Clarke did not make appearance. And it sucked.

Bellamy was meandering through his shop, turning off lights and checking on his flowers offhandedly, when he heard a roaring from outside the store. Curiousity piqued, Bellamy strode to the front window and peered outside.

A woman sat on a Harley Davidson, but the shitty streetlights were not enough lighting to be able to distinguish her face. Luckily enough she pushed off of the bike with a hip, strutting towards Aurora's in a way that was similar to- "Clarke?"

"Hey, Bell!" Clarke grinned from the entrance of Aurora's, a motorcycle helmet dangling from a manicured hand. Her usual long-sleeved shirt, cargo pants and boots were her attire and her long, flowing waves were trapped in a ponytail at the base of her neck. Her bangs, not long enough to reach her ponytail, framed her face and made her look downright angelic in the shitty lighting. "I was wondering if I could give you a ride home?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure!" Bellamy affirmed, still shocked that she had appeared after a week of absence. He had not really thought the plan through, however, as he locked the front door and watched as Clarke led the way back to her large, black motorcycle. "Is that, you know, safe?"

"Of course, it is." The smile she gave him was soft as she soothed some of his worries. She threw her leg over the bike, settling into the worn leather cushion. She waved Bellamy to follow her example and do the same. Which he did, albeit in a much clumsier manner.

"Here, put this on, Bell." Clarke told her passenger, passing her helmet into his hands.

Bellamy looked at the helmet in confusion, before turning his pleading eyes to Clarke. There were just so many straps and Bellamy could barely handle his shoelaces, if he was being honest.

"Oh, sorry! Let me help you with that," Clarke twisted in her seat and took the helmet back into her hands. With a soft hand, she brushed Bellamy's - shaggy, too-long - hair out of his eyes and behind his ears before plopping the helmet over his head. The visor was flipped up, allowing for him to watch Clarke as she deftly tightened the straps beneath his chin. Once confident that aforementioned straps were secured, Clarke took Bellamy's hands in her own and wrapped them around her waist.

"You're definitely going to want to hang on, you know." She grinned at him one last time before kicking up the kickstand and starting the engine. "Where do you live?"

Bellamy repeated his address dutifully and Clarke nodded her head in assent. She knew where it was and would have no trouble getting there. So, with that, she was off, laughing as Bellamy let out a small yelp and tightened his grip around her waist.

————

It had been too loud to talk on the ride to his house, but Bellamy was grateful. He was too preoccupied trying to keep his bladder in check.

[read: Clarke drove like a madwoman and Bellamy is very much a passive driver]

Clarke kicked down the stand on her bike and twisted around to help Bellamy undo the straps on the helmet, grinning as his hair flew out in sporadic directions once he pulled the helmet off.

"Cute helmet hair." She smirked, running her fingers through his hair in an attempt to smooth it down. He blushed and looked down, but could not help but lean into her hand as she did so. He was blushing, of course, but he did not feel embarrassed as he caught a quick glimpse of the soft look she was sporting. She was finished sooner than Bellamy had wished, however, and she was swinging her leg up and over the bike fluidly.

Clarke turned and offered her hand to Bellamy to, in turn, help him off the bike, which he was grateful for. She even kept her hold on his hand as she walked him up to his front door and he lightly squeezed her hand as they stopped on his doorstep.

"Well, I guess I'll see y-"

"Do you want to come in?" Bellamy cut Clarke off, looking earnestly down at her with his big puppy eyes that even a heartless monster could not deny (Raven totally could, though. She's too badass to be stopped by something so simple.). Clarke agreed quickly, smiling up at the florist and following him inside his quaint little house. "I'm sorry that it's kind of a mess; I share the house with my best friend, Miller, and we're both super lazy and work long hours."

"It's fine. I like it; it's cute. Definitely you."

Clarke let go of Bellamy's hand to wander over to the large bookcase that spanned the length and height of one of the living room walls. It was filled nearly to the brim with books of all shapes and sizes and genres, though many of them were either classics or on the topic of ancient history or on mythology. Her fingertips slid over the spines of the books, before stopping on the Iliad.

"Have you actually read all of these?" Clarke asked in wonder, turning her head to look back at Bellamy, who had not moved from his place near the foyer.

"Most of them, yeah. The _Iliad_ is one of my favorites, though. I truly admire all of Homer's works." Bellamy confirmed, walking forward to lean against the arm of the couch a few feet away from where Clarke stood. "Although, I'm one of those people who don't think that Homer was solely one person. Truthfully, I think that there were many people who passed down the tales of the _Odyssey_ and the _Iliad_ before it was actually written down, you know? The name "Homer", I think, does not name a single man, but actually the idea of the po-"

Bellamy was cut off from his rant as Clarke pressed her lips against his, breaking him off from his tirade with a kiss. He immediately forgot about what he was going off about, too instinctively overwhelmed as he was with the fact that Clarke was here _kissing_ him. Her left hand found itself buried in his hair, while her right cradled his cheek, allowing her to tilt his head for better access. Bellamy's own hands settled on her lips, eagerly responding to her ministrations.

After a few minutes, however, Bellamy pulled back. Clarke's eyes were questioning, but she, too, pulled back slightly.

"I've been wondering since the first time you came into my store about why you only ever buy a single flower. Is that weird? I've literally thought of so many explanations but none of them seemed right." Bellamy explained quickly, berating himself mentally for choosing this exact moment to bring it up.

Luckily, Clarke's expression brightened drastically and she stepped back, out of his hold.

"Well, usually I don't show people my art until it's done, but for you I'll make an exception," Clarke stated, pulling her shirt up and off of her body, before dropping it beside her feet. She lifted her arms for Bellamy to see and his jaw very nearly hit the floor.

Clarke's arms were covered in tattoos, much like Raven's were, but where Raven had minimalist outlines and animals, realistic tattoos of flowers were etched into Clarke's skin. The azalea that she has bought the first time was predominantly showcased on the inside of her left forearm, the petals spanning about half the length and were a tantalizing purple. The stem of the red rose was curled around her right elbow and the flower itself rested within the crook of it. More flowers that she had purchased - a tulip here, an anemone there - were scattered across her creamy skin. Dancing between each flower were beautifully drawn stars and symbols and initials and Bellamy thought that it was beautiful.

"Like I said, some of the flowers aren't done yet, because I wanted so much detail put into them. That's why I went and bought your flowers! Because I wanted my tattoos to be as realistic as possible and your flowers were grown so beautifully and looked so perfect. And, truly, I love how they turned out, so thank you, Bellamy." Clarke whispered, admiring the constellation of freckles that spanned Bellamy's cheeks while he admired the flowers painting her arms.

"This is incredible, Clarke. Who drew these?" He asked, gently taking her hand in his to trace lightly over the outline of a pink lily.

"I drew them," Clarke smirked, bringing up her own finger to trace the stem of the aforementioned lily. "And Raven tattooed them for me. In turn, I draw up and tattoo some of her own. I was in medical school, but I found out that I enjoyed this way more. Displaying my art on people's bodies is truly something amazing. I love it."

"Clarke...you're incredible." Bellamy said, lifted his hand to push back a rogue piece of hair to its place behind Clarke's ear. He never would have guessed that she was this incredible, nor would he have believed that his art, his passion for bringing plants to life could inspire her. "This is beautiful. You're beautiful and it manifests itself so purely and clearly in your art. Thank you, for showing me this."

"No, thank you, Bellamy. You helped me do this for myself. You inspired me."

And, well, what could he do except to pull her in for another kiss?

 

**fin.**

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, there are inaccuracies, because this is a work of / fiction /. I do not own any of the characters in this story.


End file.
